Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 10.6-minute talk, Kyabje Rinpoche cuts through misconceptions about the imagery of tantric deities. He establishes that Vajrayāna practice requires understanding of emptiness and great compassion, then clarifies that the deities we meditate on are actual enlightened beings. He explains the symbolism of paired male and female deities—the former representing compassionate method, the latter wisdom—and what their embrace signifies. He then addresses wrathful deity imagery: their fierce appearance is not anger but compassion directed at the mental afflictions that harm sentient beings, much like a mother’s fierce protection of a threatened child. For practitioners new to tantric Buddhist study.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1991-02-25 – 1B – Sunday – KR.mp3
UUID: 78b79958-61a2-479c-a0af-60b2affb3fa1
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Meditation
Date: 1991-02-25
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~771
So the the Buddha taught many teachings according to the dispositions of the students who he was teaching to in accordance with their capacities. And in general, we can say that to those who were of the lesser vehicle, disposition capacity, such as what has now become Theravāda. That there was no particular interest in the development of great compassion, and they had there was no capacity to understand the most profound aspects of emptiness. So these were not appropriate to be taught to such disciples. So he did not teach them.
In order to carry on a practice of of tantra, Vajrayāna, secret mantra, it’s necessary that one have a great interest in the development of great compassion and be and in pursuing the profundity of emptiness. So without the without the understanding of emptiness and great compassion, one cannot carry on a practice of Tantra. In those who had this capacity and interest to learn these subjects, then not only were they were these subjects taught, but additionally, the Buddha taught secret mantra to them as an additional skillful means. So and now in so this is why the the tradition of Vajrayāna is present in some areas and not in others in accordance with the dispositions and capacities of those who are being taught. As far as the nature of the deities in tantra, then these there are actual beings who who are on the levels of various levels such as Bodhisattvas, those who have not as yet eliminated all their faults, and there are those who have actually eliminated all their faults and brought the consummation of their excellent qualities.
That is to say, there are Buddhas who are in fact these deities. They are actual beings. They are not sentient beings. The reason that we meditate upon them as the object of our meditation is to purify our impure aggregates, to to eliminate the various faults of our various aggregates, and we cause ourselves to appear in the form of the deity in order to eliminate any faults within our our aggregates in order to attain that state. And in the iconography, the visual imagery of, Oftentimes, you’ll see the consorts embracing a male and a female consort in embrace.
And the the meaning of this is that in order to attain Buddhahood, it’s it’s necessary that we are practiced via combination of both wisdom and method. The male consort is symbolic of method, and here the method is that of the awakening heart, and the female is symbolic of wisdom. And here what is meant by wisdom is realization of emptiness. So in order to attain Buddhahood, it’s necessary that we practice a combination of both the the the method of the awakening heart and the wisdom of the realization of emptiness. So they aren’t embracing out of attachment or desire.
They’ve already eliminated that. Also within Tantric iconography, visual imagery, you may see extremely wrathful deities with many heads, many arms, carrying all types of horrible types of weapons. And they have very wrathful expressions on their faces. Actually in fact they don’t have any anger within them. They they’ve already gone beyond anger.
In fact, they have their this is an expression of their great compassion because what they what they are they are what they are angry at, what they are being wrathful toward, is that which harms sentient beings. And that which harms sentient beings are factors such as ignorance, attachment, pride, jealousy. So they are as if becoming giving a wrathful appearance or angry appearance at that which is harms and beings, the various afflicted emotions within the student’s minds. So this is what their their this is expression is being directed toward out of a sense of compassion for the student. So it’s it’s very much like a mother who loves a child very much, cares for a child, and someone comes along and treats the child very badly, hurts the child, and the mother would out of her great compassion for the child would show a very disturbed, what wrathful expression at her child being hurt by this other person.
She would direct this as wrathful expression at whatever was harming her child. These wrathful figures are simply displaying an aspect of wrath. In fact they they are not in a wrathful state and they are not in any way involved in anger, but they they do this in order to display the displeasure with the the afflictive emotions, the hatred, and and anger within sentient beings mind. Okay.